Managing work related stress David Fox...HSL: HSE’s Health and Safety Laboratory The HSE...

Managing work related stress

David FoxChartered Psychologist

Health and Safety Laboratory

Health and Safety Executive

HSL: HSE’s Health and Safety Laboratory

Managing Work Related Stress

IOSH Isle of Man Branch Annual Safety and Health Conference 2018 7th

February 2018

David Fox – Science Division, Health and Safety Executive


Personal background

• Chartered psychologist

Areas of expertise includes:

• Survey design and analysis

• Personal assessment

• Safety climate

• Stress


The Health and Safety Laboratory

• Helps businesses

succeed

• Supports HSE

• Saves and

improves the lives

of workers


Forward look

• The extent of the problem – a look at the latest statistics

• Defining what stress is and is not

• How to recognise stress

• The organisational impact of stress

• What we do to minimise the risks?


The statistics (available on the HSE stress website)


How many people?


Days lost overall?


Days lost per case?


Proportion of ill health cases?


Proportion of all working days lost?


The cost


Statistics in context 2015/16


To summarise….

Work related stress accounts for:

• 37% of all work-related ill-health cases

• 45% of all working days lost due to ill-health

• £5.2 billion annual cost to GB


Who is most affected by work related stress?


Work related stress by industry group


Work related stress by broad occupational category


Work related stress by professional occupation


Work related stress by age and gender


Work related stress and company size


The risks are heightened if you…..

• Work in the public sector

• Work in a professional occupation

• Are female

• Are aged between 35 and 54

• Work in a large (over 250 staff) organisation


What is stress?

• A natural reaction to excessive pressure.

• When perceived demands exceed the individual’s ability to cope.


Physical effects of stress

Acute stress

• Adrenaline is pumped

into the blood stream

• Immune system goes on alert

• Fight or flight response


Physical effects of stress

Long term stress

• Cortisol is released

• Immune system is

compromised


What is stress?

HSE Definition

Stress is the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed on them.


What stress is not

• Stress is not a disease but if excessive / prolonged can lead to mental and physical ill health

• Stress is not a recognised medical condition


A very important message…

There is no such thing as positive stress (only positive pressure) - stress is always negative!


What is different about stress?

• Harm is not easy to define

• Hazards are determined by the way people perceive them – individual differences

• Difficult to establish cause and effect in individual cases

• Difficult to distinguish between minor and serious harm

• Everyone is potentially exposed


Symptoms of stress – individual level

Physical

HeadachesDiarrhoea

/ stomach

problemsFatigue

Skin

problems

Chest

problemsFrequent

colds

Weight

loss/gain


Symptoms of stress – individual level

Psychological

Difficulty

making

decisions

Poor

judgement Constant

worrying

Depression

/ anxiety

Loss of sense

of humourRestlessnessMoody

Memory

problems


Symptoms of stress – organisational level

Organisational

behaviour

Getting into

disputes with

colleagues

Increase in turnover

Reduced

productivity

Low team

morale

Poor time keeping /

late for workIncrease in

disciplinary

problems

Working

long hours

with

diminished

returns


What can cause stress outside work?

Divorce

Bereavement

Financial problems Relationship

problems

Pregnancy

Poor living conditions

Illness

Dependents


What can cause stress at work?

Deadlines

Unkind colleagues

Emails Office temperature

An absent line manager Frequent

travel

Colleagues off sick

Noisy / cannot

concentrate


What causes stress at work?


What causes stress at work?

Analysis of mental ill-health cases reported to THOR-GP (the general practitioner network) three-year aggregate total 2013 to 2015


Statistics suggest that the risk of work related stress are related to….

• Workload

• Job related issues e.g. job design

• Interpersonal relationships at work


Recap of key points…

• Stress is an adverse but natural reaction

• Stress is not an illness

• Individual differences – different people can react differently to same situation

• Varying causes that interplay: home and work is affected


Why tackle stress? The legal position

Employers have duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974

Places a general duty on employers to protect the health of their employees.



Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999

Place a duty on employers to assess health and safety risks, including risks to mental health.



One of my staff is off with stress. Could they sue me?

• No, if you have done everything that is reasonably practicable to control the risk of WRS

• Yes, if the employee has been off with stress before and when they return to work you wilfully or negligently re-expose them to the same stressors

• Need to consider ruling in Dickins v O2 Plc (2008)


Dickins v O2 Plc – Court of Appeal (2008)

Court of Appeal addressed three key issues:

Foreseeable injuries – Dickens communicated stress issues to line manager

Breach of duty – O2’s suggestion that D should seek counselling while continuing to work not regarded as adequate response

Causes: Court determined O2 had breached duty of care to D by not making changes to working situation making her condition worse


Why tackle stress? The moral case

• Prolonged periods of stress can have an adverse effect on health

– Physical ill health

– Psychological ill health

– Behavioural outcomes that are harmful to health

• Research – good work is good for you! Waddell and Burton (2006 )


The organisational benefits of tackling stress

Improved return on investment

Lower risk of litigation

Improved customer care

Reduced costs (sick pay, recruitment, etc.).

Better absence management


The organisational benefits of tackling stress

Reduced staff turnover

Fewer accidents (e.g. through human error)

Improved work quality

Improved reputation

Tolerance of sufferers with work related stress


The individual benefits of tacking work related stress

Increased motivation and commitment

Higher morale

Increased performance

Team cohesion

Better acceptance of change

Improved relations between peers and superiors

Line managers can show their duty of care


Why tackle stress? Case study – Somerset County Council

• 2001/02 sickness absence levels at 10.75 days, costing approximately £3.7million

• In 2003/04 after stress management interventions, sickness absence fell to 8.29 days further reduced to 5 days

• This represents a total saving of £1.3 million in first 12 months


Why tackle stress?

• Three cases to consider:

– Moral

– Business

– Legal

• More information is available on HSE’s website


Assessing the risk of work related stress

The HSE Management Standards for work-related stress


The HSE Management Standards 6 factors

• Demands

• Control

• Support

• Relationships

• Role

• Change



• Demands – workload, work patterns, work environment

• Control – how much say a person has in the they perform their job

• Support – included the encouragement, sponsorship and resources provided by the organisation



• Relationships – includes promoting positive working to avoid conflict and dealing with unacceptable behaviour

• Role – whether people understand their role within the organisation and the prevention of role conflict and role ambiguity

• Change – how organisational change is managed and communicated


Development of the Management Standards approach

Organisations told HSE that management Standards should be:

• Based on evidence

• Practical and easy to use

• Applicable across the board

• About problems and their solutions

• Flexible and adaptable


Key features of the Management Standards approach

• Uses a risk assessment approach

• Emphasises the value of good management

• Pro-active - about prevention rather than cure

• Focus on organisational / group approach

• Based on the best available evidence


Risk assessing for work related stress – using the Management Standards approach



1. Identify the stress risk factors – understand the Management Standards

2. Decide who may be harmed and how –gather data e.g. surveys

3. Evaluate the risks – explore problems and develop solutions e.g. run focus groups and interviews



4. Record your findings – develop and implement action plans

5. Monitor and review action plan(s) and assess effectiveness


Example: The Standard for Demands

• Employees indicate that they are able to cope with the demands of their jobs; and

• Systems are in place locally to respond to any individual concerns

The Standard is that:



Full explanations of how to do this can be found in HSG218, free to download from the HSE website


HSE Management Standards Indicator Tool

• 35 item questionnaire

• Free to use

• Based on sound research and development

• Comes with free scoring software (Excel based)








New HSE Stress Indicator Tool

• Much improved functionality over previous manual version

• Based on the tried and tested Safety Climate Tool platform with similar features

• Paid for tool






Find out more on the HSL website


Information and support stress

HSE stress website

Lots of information,

guidance and resources


Summary

• The extent of the problem – major employment issue?

• Explained what stress is and is not

• Looked the signature of stress and how to recognise it

• Considered the organisational impact of stress

• Looked at methods to assess and What can be done to minimise the risks at the organisation level


Any questions?

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Managing work related stress David Fox...HSL: HSE’s Health and Safety Laboratory The HSE...

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